I keep getting questions about whether or not I photograph children - the answer is YES!  I love photographing babies and kids!  So I finally got around to putting a mini-gallery of kids photos on the website.  I don't shoot in the studio (nothing interesting ever happens in a studio).  Instead, I do lifestyle portraits, photographing you and your family wherever you feel comfortable and getting a more natural portrait.  They are a lot more fun, and far more relaxed.  Plus, I'll never make your kid sit in a pot or wear a boa. :)

Thatcher turned one this weekend, on July 19th, and his parents had a little party for him.  I was fortunate enough to be there to photograph the event - watching little kids shove cake into their faces is a welcome break from the dainty cake feeding at a wedding!  Thatcher didn't disappoint with his cake scarfing, either.  He ate it straight off the high chair, and ended up with frosting down his chin and all in his hair.  I also caught a few shots of him opening gifts and running around the house buzzed from his sugar fix (although the sugars were all natural, as his Mom made the organic carrot cake from scratch.)  He eventually crashed with his Dad just in time for a nap.  I can't believe I've been photographing this little guy for a year now - I hope he continues to tolerate my lens in his face well into the future!

Like most babies, Taylor had her own agenda today - and it didn't include having her portrait taken.  She just didn't seem up for it today.  So I put away my things and chatted with her mom for a while, giving her time to chill out just enough to take a few snapshots before she began fussing again.  I'll probably end up photographing this little one again (preferably after a night in which she's had a little more sleep!) but these few are still cute enough to share!

All three of these little cousins have sweet faces - they are so cute!  We made a quick trip to Forest Park for some portraits of the three girls and their families, and the weather was perfect.  The girls were playing in the leaves a bit when Carter found a giant stick bug - you can see it on her hand in one of the photos.  They were having a great time with that bug while all of us adults made faces about not wanting to touch it!  I'm so glad that these families came out for their first family portraits.  Hopefully they'll make it a yearly tradition!

Mika is just shy of a month old, which makes her just about the perfect age for infant photos.  Like most babies, she was a little camera shy at first, but she eventually let me take photos of her both awake and asleep (which is an accomplishment.)  She's so sweet!

The last time I photographed this family, Jenna was just over a year old.  Now she's a little past 2 years - and has the most adorable pigtails!  There was a bit of disagreement between Jenna and her parents about the pigtails (she was not pleased), but I'm glad they persisted.  She looks so cute!  Last time I caught photos of her crawling down the hall - this time she was on her little bike.  Next time who knows what she'll be doing! 

We all know the economy is a little....wonky....right now (I’m an optimist, that’s as negative as I’ll get.)  As a result, some of my clients have started wondering if they should be saving their money rather than spending it on “luxury” items such as portraits. 

But photography isn’t about vanity and luxury - it’s about celebration.  Even in tough times it’s still important to celebrate your life by documenting your family, photographing kids before they grow up, and capturing those newborn moments you can never get back.  It makes me sad to see people struggling between saving money and having good photos.  So in the interest of spreading some love around (and slightly increasing my own good karma) I’m holding a special one day marathon of mini-sessions at a special price.

Here’s the deal.  On Sunday May 3rd I’ll be dedicating my day to doing mini-sessions for family/kid/baby portraits.  Each session will be 45 minutes long, and everyone will get a DVD of all their high resolution files from the session (with copyright consent to make prints.)  Morning sessions will be held at Forest Park for the nature lovers, and afternoon sessions will be in the Lafayette Square neighborhood and park for the urban dwellers.  The fee for the session and the DVD is only $100 - less than half of the normal full session price.

This is a one time thing, so if you’re interested, call or email me ASAP to get the time you want.  I’m looking forward to it!

It's amazing how many excellent baby photos you can get in just 30 minutes!  8-week-old Hannah was very well behaved (no crying or anything!) for the first 30 minutes of portraits this morning, and then she started getting just a tad fussy.  To spare Molly and Scott from any upset that may have ensued from pushing her any further, we ended the session there - and I am surprised at how many good images we were able to get!  It was fun to see Molly and Scott again - I photographed their wedding in 2007 - and see the newest addition to their family.  She's a sweetie :)

How pretty are Colin's blue eyes?  He's such a cutie - even when he's being a total boy with his mouth wide open or his tongue sticking out!  His mom, Shannon, wanted to get some photos of the two of them together at Faust Park yesterday, and a few of him alone.  At 4 years old he already has a "fake camera smile" just like the rest of us.  Fortunately at 4 he's still susceptible to laughing at the word monkey, so we managed get a laugh out of him for some of the shots.  I just love this first one - I hope Shannon does too!

I photographed Sarah and Kevin's wedding last year in August, and I remember at the reception hearing Kevin predict that they were going to come home from their honeymoon pregnant.  About a month or two after the wedding I got an email from Sarah exclaiming that they had, in fact, fulfilled on that prediction while honeymooning in Italy.  And now they have little Noah, who is just one month old!  I love the "Made in Italy" onesie, which apparently Kevin had specially made for their little one.  So fitting :)

I love so many of these photos - thanks guys for thinking of me again, and letting me move around all of the furniture in your house to get good light! 

Last time I photographed Taylor she was far less mobile.  At just over a year old, she has discovered her freedom, and she was definitely on the run during our photo shoot yesterday in Forest Park.  But how can you be mad at someone with such adorable blond curls and big blue eyes?  You can't - you just follow her down the path and get whatever you can!

I've been really behind on blogging because I've been sick - I'm still getting to everything!  So my apologies for the delays :)

The Stufflebeams came out for my Last Chance Marathon this past weekend.  Since Thatcher loves playing football now (and not so much getting his photos taken), I took a bunch of shots of him playing with his family.  I love the shot of Stacey and Patrick watching him play - so cute.  This was probably my last photo shoot with the Stufflebeam family, which is sad.  Maybe they'll come out to Colorado - I hope so :) 

The perfect, sunny fall day and an adorable family - what a perfect way to finish out in St. Louis.  We started bright and early in Faust Park this morning, and I'm glad we did.  We managed to just miss the throngs of photographers and families out getting portraits taken in the beautiful fall colors.  I love so many portraits from this session today, but the ones with the leaves have to be my favorites.  That's one thing I'll miss in Colorado - St. Louis has Denver beat hands down for fall color.  Thank you so much for coming out to play today, Adkins family!

I'm off to pack up my life.  I head out to Denver next Friday, so if you're trying to contact me, I appreciate your patience over the next week :)